Tag: #OrganTrafficking # Can It Be Exposed

The Red Market by Scott Carney – Book Review

The Red Market: On the Trail of the World’s Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers, and Child Traffickers is a non fiction book about organ trade. The author of this book, Scott Carney, an American investigative journalist and anthropologist, was born on the 9th of July, 1978. He has authored four books – The Red Market, The Enlightenment Trap, What Doesn’t Kill Us and The Wedge. Scott Carney has also worked as a contributing editor at Wired magazine and contributes stories on various issues to Mother Jones, Men’s Journal, Playboy, Foreign Policy, Discover, Outside and Fast Company. Several radio and television programmes including National Geographic TV have covered his works.

This book is an account of various organ trade practices prevalent in the world. The title of the book ‘The Red Market’ – a term coined by the author – refers to a black market place for trafficked human body parts. 

“I weigh just a little under two hundred pounds have brown hair blue eyes and a full set of teeth. As far as I know my thyroid gland pumps the right hormones into the twelve pints of blood that circulate in my arteries and veins. At six feet and two inches I have long femurs and tibias with solid connective tissue. Both my kidneys function properly and my heart runs at a steady clip of eighty-seven beats per minute. All in I figure I’m worth about 250 000.”

It contains accounts of an Indian village – nicknamed ‘Kidneyvakkam’ – notorious for its citizens selling their kidney to meet ends, grave robbers in remote villages, a temple that sells the hair of its devotees, child kidnappers who sell kids to adoption centres, and the practice of surrogacy and surrogate mothers. His book provides a detailed and informative account on numerous ways by which the trade of organs is carried out. His information is backed by a thorough research that spanned for years. 

“our appetite for human flesh is higher now than at any other time in history.”

This author manages to capture the plight of people forced by their fate to sell their organs to sustain their livelihood, how the anonymity of the buyers is maintained, how the trade is carried out through agents, the economics of the red market and how it is affected by various laws in different countries. The writing style is clear and makes one feel like an observer of the events being narrated making the book an insightful one.

“People don’t go to a transplant center to buy medical services: They go to buy organs.”

The book manages to paint a sufficiently clear enough picture of things that benefits even a person not acquainted with the subject. The book benefits from the background research and the experiences of the author. The interviews of various people involved in the practice helps in better understanding of the events and supplying contextual facts. Despite all this, some parts and arguments advanced by the author tend to feel vague. 

what is Organ Trafficking,can this crime be exposed?

Organ Trafficking is a illegal crime of transporting,harbouring of living persons or deceased persons or their organs by means of abduction ,fraud that makes the abuse of power of a professionals position.Human Trafficking holds a critical place with transactional organized crime groups due to demand of organs at low rates of law enforcement.Organ Trafficking is considered to be dark form of illicit that causes destruction to the medical norms.Global Financial Integrity(GFI) estimates that 10 % of all the organtransplants includes lungs,Hearts and Liver.

According to the sources this illicit invloves a huge groups ,the donors of the organs are mostly targeted to be the orphans. This crime is a planned act which is against law and medical norms.The orphans are easy for this illicit as they have no identity to recognise from their legit.so this loophole is made as business by many Traffickers for operating from various locations.Desperate patients in need of Organ may fall as a prey for the Traffickers who could praise a high Ransom for the organ matching .The Medical reforms involved in this illicit are involves many skilled professional doctors,medicos etc.This professionals perform various Opeartions ,surgeries are a part of Financial exploitation creating multilevel equation of crime.

It is Extremely difficult to know exactly how much Transplantations Laundering generates annually WorldWide But it is estimated that the Illegal trade Conservatively generates around $800 millions to $1.7 Billions annually according to GFI,it is difficult for both law enforcement agents and anti-money Laundering(AML)professionals to detect related Financial activity.This is due to the bulk Groups involving in the crime and Transparency nature of the crime.The main scapegoats made for this illicits are the medical captives includes hospitals and the drug pharmacies.The pharamaceuticals required for the Transplantations are also acquried from various sources from several agencies.

Todays Digital world made easy menthod of transfers through various websites,agencies and medical tourisms that offer transplant services with transparency.Method of payments such as email money transfer,bulk and cash withdrawl,credit card Payments to agencies.

Some Economists generally claim and lean for arguments for organ legalization is the one way to overcome this Red market illicit.Although Governments have Imposed and Implemented initiatives with legal definitions to increase Organ donation through public awareness Campaigns,consent laws.Legalizing payments for organs would encourage more people to donate organs.criminal Middlemen often take large sums of money cut for the payment of the organ leaving a little money left for the donor,this had to be avoided to reduce harm for the donors.After the donors often do not receive any medical followup because they are afraid that their role in crime will be discovered.considering all the facts there is still a quest for this question whether this” Red market Crime can be Exposed or not?”.

Major considerations for this question also have a claim thought of making Organ Transplantation as a Legal Model.One of this model include Free market Model system to Combat the organ shortage that helps to drive the illegal Trade.Although it doesn’t still attain a clear attention as advocates counter these claims by saying that death or murder for financial gain already happens.The main motto to expose this crimes is to protect and prohibit medical professionals and drug Pharmacies from performing such illicit organ transplantations all over the world.

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